This is Amazon’s help page which is pretty good but does not give you the details of actually creating a Linux EC2 instance to use. So first off log into the AWS portal, select EC2 and launch a new instance. I’m going to give you specific instructions for Ubuntu Server 14.04 which I feel is the easiest; you can use any version of Linux but remember the installs commands are different.

Keep all the items default with the exception of admin IAM role if you have one if not I’d suggest you create one now. The process is here!
Click Next: Add Storage keeping all settings default then click Next: Add Tags.
I would suggest adding a key similar to below but that is up to you.

Click Next: Configure Security Group and either create a new security group to allow the needed ports or select something you already have. I keep a group called MyDMZ that has my entire basic web and SSH ports with the SSH set to my local IP address only.

Click Review and Launch and then Launch from the review screen. Once you do this you are presented with the select key pair dialog. Select an existing or create a new key pair. This is required to connect to the instance via putty or SSH so make sure you have it saved. When ready click the Launch Instances button.